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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (COMCEC) has been continuing its efforts with the aim of enhancing economic and
commercial cooperation among the 57 OIC Member Countries since 1984. The main objective of the
COMCEC is to address the economic challenges of the Islamic Ummah, to contribute to their
development efforts and to enhance trade among the Member Countries. In this regard, COMCEC serves
as a policy dialogue forum for producing and disseminating knowledge, sharing experience and best-
practices, developing a common understanding, and approximating policies among the Member
Countries.
In order to realize its objectives, COMCEC has initiated many programmes and projects. Since the
adoption of the COMCEC Strategy by 4th Extra-ordinary Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah
Al-Mukarramah on 14-15 August 2012, the efforts under the COMCEC have gained a new dynamism
and visibility. The Annual Progress Reports are submitted to the COMCECMinisterial Sessions in order
to present the progress in the implementation of the COMCEC Strategy. In this regard, this progress
report provides an overview of the major achievements in the implementation of the COMCEC Strategy,
since the 31st Session of the COMCEC, particularly the progress in the implementation of two
mechanisms of the COMCEC Strategy, namely COMCEC Working Groups and COMCEC Project
Funding. Accordingly, for each cooperation area, the Report gives information about the outcomes of
the most recent meetings of the relevant Working Group. Moreover, the activities of the OIC Institutions
serving to the mission of the Strategy are also highlighted.
Since the 31st Session of the COMCEC, held in İstanbul, on 21-24 November 2015, 12 Working Group
(WG) Meetings have been successfully held. For these meetings, 12 research studies and 6 sectoral
outlook documents have been published by the COMCEC Coordination Office. After each WGMeeting,
a proceedings document was published in order to reflect the outcomes of the meetings including the
summaries of the presentations and discussions made during the meeting. All the publications regarding
the working group meetings namely the research studies, sectoral outlooks and the meeting proceedings
are available in e-book format on the COMCEC website:
In line with the regular practice for each WG Meeting, the working groups have continued to conduct a
policy debate session in their deliberations. The participants discuss policy recommendations on the
theme of the meeting derived from the research studies as well as the responses by Member Countries
to the policy questions, which are communicated to the focal points before each WG meeting. These
policy recommendations are then referred to the Ministerial Session for consideration and adoption.
Accordingly, the recommendations of the 7 th and 8th rounds of WG meetings will be submitted to the
32nd Session of the COMCEC for further action.
Through the COMCEC Project Funding, the second implementation instrument of the Strategy, the
Member Countries and OIC Institutions are mobilized to realize the principles and objectives of the
COMCEC Strategy. The projects conducted under this mechanism are developed in the areas where the
policy recommendations have been formulated by the WGs and adopted by the COMCEC Ministerial
Meetings. Thus, this mechanism provides an important policy support instrument for the project owners
and beneficiaries.
It also gives the member countries an opportunity to work together in order to overcome their common
challenges. The Member Countries implement cooperation projects with at least two project partner
countries. As such, the total number of beneficiaries of the projects is much higher than the project
owners. During its second implementation year, 14 projects were successfully implemented in 2015 and
more than 40 countries have reaped the benefits of COMCEC Project Funding. Moreover, this year, the
third year of the implementation of COMCEC Project Funding, 9 projects are being implemented. With